


Nighttime Violets

by ericsonclan



Series: OG World [19]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:07:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23351443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Louis visits Violet before they both head to bed and they talk about the past, what to remember, and how to move on.
Relationships: Louis & Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running), Prisha/Violet (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: OG World [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1815361
Kudos: 5





	Nighttime Violets

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfic to make my sister cry, which I'm both sorry for and proud of XD
> 
> (by Laura)

Violet was about to head to bed when she heard a familiar rat-a-tat-tat at her door. Louis’ special knock. Somewhat reluctantly, Violet shuffled to the door and cracked it open. Louis grinned at her with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry for the late-night house call. I brought a peace offering to make up for the timing,” He raised a wrinkled bag that Violet was sure contained the decade-old pretzels he still insisted were a special treat.

Violet rolled her eyes, but opened the door wider and stepped back. “Come on in,”

“Thanks!” Louis strode into the room and promptly plopped himself on top of her desk. Looking around the room, he took in the familiar decorations that Violet had kept up for years: her button making machine and the few buttons she kept in her personal collection, the faded glow-in-the-dark stars that they had moved from her ceiling to her bedside wall after the accident, her worn-out vest tossed carelessly across the chair. He absentmindedly kicked his legs back and forth, whistling to himself. Violet stood across from him, arms crossed, waiting for him to speak. Louis noticed her stance and stopped mid-note. “I suppose you’re wondering why I’m visiting tonight,”

“Duh,”

“Well, now that our newest member has been with us for a few months, I wanted to see how you were feeling,”

Of fucking course.

“Get out,”

“Whaaat?”

“I said out,” Violet walked over to her dresser where her hunting knife lay.

“OK! OK!” Louis exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. “God, I wasn’t thinking you’d react this harshly! And after I intentionally came in the dead of night so no one would hear us gossiping!” Though the sight of Violet’s knife was certainly pressing, he suddenly found himself looking beyond it to something else that lay on the dresser. “Wait a second. Is that… a violet?”

“What? No! Get out!” Violet shouted, advancing threateningly with the knife.

“Oh my god, it is, isn’t it?” Louis leapt off the desk onto the extra bunk bed, wriggling across the mattress to get a better look at the flower. “Potted and everything!” He turned to wiggle his eyebrows at Violet. “I bet I would only need one guess as to who gave you this,”

“Be quiet!” Violet hissed, shooting a worried glance toward the door.

“Does the name of the gift giver perhaps start with a P?”

“You know it does,” Violet sullenly took a seat on her bed.

“How long ago did this happen?”

“A few days. She went to practice fishing with Clementine and when they came back she gave it to me. Said she found it near the stream,”

“It’s potted,”

Violet shrugged noncommittally. “Guess she found it by the greenhouse,”

“Holy shit, Violet. Do you know what this means?”

“Don’t be weird about this,”

“She’s totally into you! I was right all along!” Louis leapt up from the bed, doing a little happy dance. “I can’t believe this! This is way better than I hoped to find!”

“If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I will end you,”

“Well, Clementine must know already, right? Considering that Prisha was with her when she got the flower,”

“Louis,”

“Ok, fine! I won’t talk about it with anyone, not even Clementine!” Louis looked over at the potted flower again, putting a hand up to his mouth to cover his smile. “I just can’t believe this is actually happening. Have you told her yet?”

“Told her what?”

“Violet – c’mon! It doesn’t take a genius to notice the way you look at her. And she brought you a flower, your namesake flower! You can’t say that’s not a sign that she feels the same way,”

“I can say whatever I fucking want,” Violet pulled her blanket from where it had lain bunched up along the side of her bed. She smoothed the blanket out across the mattress, a clear signal that she was going to bed.

“Are you waiting for her to make the first move?”

“I’m not waiting for anything!”

“’Cause I know you get shy when it comes to stuff like this. Like that time when Minnie-”

Violet slammed her hands down on the bedframe, causing a huge clang. Louis flinched.

“Don’t,”

“I’m sorry. I just got caught up in the excitement and it slipped out.”

“… I know,”

The room was silent as Louis looked for the right words to say next. There weren’t any. Looking at her bedroom walls, he saw some of Tenn’s old drawings lining the walls, ones he had given to Violet over the years. A crayon drawing of Violet made several years ago smiled at him from the top of the wall. Various depictions of wildlife and the nature around Ericson could be found amongst the colored pages. There were some pieces missing though, ones that Louis remembered being displayed proudly just a few years ago. Pictures of Minnie and Sophie. Group drawings with Violet in the middle. Memories of the times before the twins had been lost. Before Minnie had been found again, only to turn her weapon against them and try to kill them herself.

Louis looked over at Violet. She had her arms wrapped around herself, knees pulled tight against her chest. Her face lay against them, turned away from him. He prayed he hadn’t made her cry.

“Violet?”

He heard nothing in response.

“Promise you won’t kill me if I say what’s on my mind?”

More silence.

He would have to take that as a yes. Taking a deep breath, Louis decided to go for it. “Prisha’s not Minnie. What happened on the boat and on the bridge, it won’t happen again,”

She didn’t move. Louis wasn’t sure what to do. Then a soft, shaky sniffle emerged from Violet’s still form. Louis immediately took a seat beside her on the bed, taking her in his arms and making soft shushing sounds.

“Shit, Vi, I’m sorry. I went too far. Shh, shh, it’s gonna be okay. I won’t say anything else, I swear,”

“Fuck you, Louis,” Violet mumbled against his chest, taking a long, snotty inhale. “I was doing alright today,”

“I’m so, so sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you,”

Violet pushed herself up to lean against the back wall, rubbing tears out of her permanently bleary eyes. She couldn’t see shit when she was crying.

Louis was still holding onto her hand, gently running his thumb against her palm in apology. He just said sorry for pushing her, but he wasn’t going to leave till she opened up, was he? Asshole.

“What happened that night on the boat changed everything,”

Louis was surprisingly silent. He must be waiting for more.

“It changed what I thought I’d lost. Then I lost it all again. But it was worse than before. I didn’t used to think that was possible. After that, after losing Tenn…. For a while I didn’t think I could come back. Like what was the point anymore in living in this shithole world with these useless eyes and everybody gone-”

She could feel Louis’ grip tighten on her hand.

“… But not everybody was gone. You were still here. And Clem. And Ruby. And AJ and…. You guys didn’t give up on me, even when I had nothing to give. It took so, so long to just feel anything at all again. To care at all. To still try. But I got there. When Prisha came…” Violet’s spare hand tangled in her blanket, clasping and unclasping it. “It felt different again. Not bad, but… I can’t deal with it. Whatever this is, I don’t want it,”

“Do you really mean that?” Louis whispered. “It’s OK to be scared. Hell, I’m sure Prisha knows plenty about that too. She wouldn’t hold it against you if you were nervous,”

Violet shook her head. “Don’t do this. Don’t act like you know what this is or what she’s thinking. It can’t be true,”

“What can’t be true? That she likes you?”

“Louis, have you seen me lately?” Violet turned to look him dead-on. Even this close, she could barely make out the freckles that covered her friend’s face. “Don’t act like this looks good,”

“Violet-”

“No. Don’t brush this off like it’s not a big fucking deal,”

Louis sighed. He let go of her hand and leaned back to take a place against the wall. “You know, after Clem lost her leg, I would catch her flinch sometimes when I touched her. Not super obviously, and not all the time. She had her good and her bad days, just like you. When I eventually got the nerve up to ask her about it, she just looked down at where her leg used to be. Then she started crying.” Louis shook his head, eyes downcast. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t see how she thought that it was a big deal – not from a survival standpoint of course – but for me. I told her again and again that I didn’t care at all, that she was still the badass who I’d fallen for the second she walked into my life.

But it wasn’t enough for Clem. That conversation didn’t change things. It took me a while to realize that it wasn’t really about what I thought or how I saw her – it was how she saw herself. To me, she was just as beautiful as ever, but for Clementine… I think it took her a long time to learn to see herself again, her real self,” Louis turned to look at Violet. “Now, I’m not saying that what I think I see between you and Prisha is the real deal, but whether it is or not, I don’t think your eyes would be a deal-breaker for her. Just like her busted arm doesn’t matter much to you. Even if there aren’t romantic feelings there, I’m sure she sees the same thing I do when she looks at you,” He reached out to cup Violet’s face with one hand. “A total badass who’s a complete softie underneath,”

Violet’s lip trembled. Damnit, she was not going to start crying again. Seeing her expression, Louis chuckled and pulled her against him so that her face was once more hidden from him.

“All in all, I would say this has been a quite productive evening,” She could feel him shift on the bed. “Clementine and A.J. are already asleep, so if you like I could definitely spend the night. It’s been ages since you and I have had a proper slumber party,”

Violet mumbled something, but it was lost in the folds of his trenchcoat.

“What was that?”

“I said you have to sleep on the opposite bunk,”

“Oh, but of course! How about we play a game? I bet I can catch more pretzels in my mouth from across the room than you can!”

Violet straightened up, rubbing her eyes dry one last time. “Alright, you’re on,”

“Loser takes pelt tanning duty?”

“Yeah, right. I know it’s already your shift tomorrow,”

“Dang it! Can’t blame a guy for trying. Ok, I’ll start first. Get ready for some expert marksmanship!” Louis pulled away to take his seat on the opposite bunk.

As Violet adjusted to her place on the bed, her eyes caught the potted violet. Gingerly, she picked it up and placed it further from the edge of the dresser and the pretzel warfare that was about to ensue. Something within her felt calmer. Within that calm, perhaps she could finally admit to herself the twinge of excitement that came with Prisha’s gift.

A pretzel hit the side of her face, and she turned to Louis with a frown. “A little warning next time!”

“That was just a warmup!”

Violet rolled her eyes, but her smile remained. Wherever things went, she could be happy with how things were now. She could take a second to live in the moment.


End file.
